WO2016016780A1

WO2016016780A1 - Panel for ovens

Info

Publication number: WO2016016780A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/055585
Authority: WO
Inventors: Domiziano GIACON; Oscar Martini
Original assignee: Ma.Ti.Ka. S.R.L.; Tecnodom S.P.A.
Priority date: 2014-07-29
Filing date: 2015-07-23
Publication date: 2016-02-04

Abstract

A conveyor panel (1) for ovens, comprising at least one flat portion (11) having a first side (110) and a second side (120), as well as a first side edge (12) and a second side edge (13); the panel (1) comprises at least one air circulation fan (9), associated to the flat portion (11) at the first side (110) and having a rotation axis orthogonal to the flat portion (11). The panel (1) comprises, on said first side (110), a first raised portion (15) and a second raised portion (16) provided at said first side edge (12) and at said, second side edge (13), respectively; the first raised portion (15) and the second raised portion (16) have a height and/or width progressively increasing from one end (15a, 15b, 16a, 16b) to the other according to respective antisymmetric conformations with respect to a vertical centerline plane of the flat portion (11).

Description

PANEL FOR OVENS

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a conveyor panel for ovens .

More in particular, the present invention relates to a conveyor panel suitable to be positioned at one of the walls of a baking oven, for example for baking food.

PRIOR ART

As is known, some types of ovens, particularly for baking food, include ventilation means which cause the circulation of hot air inside the baking chamber for baking foods more effectively.

Such ventilation means normally include a fan associated with an electrical resistance, or any other heat source, which working synergistically allow sending a hot air flow inside the oven so that it impinges the food contained therein.

Said fan, with the respective associated electrical resistance or other heat source, is usually positioned on the bottom or back wall of the oven, from which it sends hot air towards the baking chamber through a gap. One of the drawbacks of this solution is that the air sent to the baking chamber typically has speed and direction which are not uniform: this condition can be seen by simply observing that the baking of food in the various areas of the oven chamber is very different. This drawback can normally be overcome in two ways.

A first operation consists in moving the food to different positions of the baking chamber, thus carrying out a sort of "rotation" between areas where baking takes place faster and those in which the baking is slower.

A second operation consists in inverting the direction of rotation of the fan in such time intervals as to obtain an average baking condition in the various positions of the oven.

The two operations listed above, which may also be carried out simultaneously, involve a high expenditure of energy, including human.

In fact, in the first operation it is necessary that an operator opens the oven, one or more times, to carry out the rotation of the food during baking, resulting in instantaneous drop of internal temperatures in the oven.

Subsequently, the oven must clearly use a certain amount of energy to reach the temperature set for baking again.

On the other hand, in the second operation, during the reversal of the direction of rotation of the fan there occurs a situation of stagnation of the air and this leads to an overheating of the electrical resistance, or other heat source, and of the whole baking chamber. Moreover, this operation causes both a high wear of the fan drive motor due to the continuous change of the direction of rotation, and a high energy expenditure due to the restarts of the motor itself.

OBJECTS OF INVENTION

The task of the present invention is to improve the prior art in the field of baking ovens.

Within the scope of this technical task, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor panel which, applied inside a baking oven, allows obviating the above drawbacks.

Another object of the present invention is to devise a conveyor panel which allows the flow of hot air circulating inside the baking chamber of the oven to be made uniform.

This task and these objects are achieved by the conveyor panel for ovens according to the attached claim 1.

The conveyor panel for ovens according to the invention is installed inside a baking oven comprising a plurality of walls defining at least one baking chamber.

The panel comprises at least one flat portion having a first side and a second side, and a first side edge and a second side edge.

The panel further comprises an air circulation fan associated to the flat portion at the first side thereof; the fan has a rotation axis orthogonal to the flat portion.

According to an aspect of the invention, the panel comprises, on said first side, a first raised portion and a second raised portion provided at the first side edge and at the second side edge, respectively.

The first raised portion and the second raised portion have a height and/or width progressively increasing from one end to the other in respective antisymmetric conformations with respect to a vertical centerline plane, in use, of the flat portion.

Thanks to this technical solution, the air flow generated by the fan and directed towards the baking chamber has uniform speed and direction along the whole height of the baking chamber itself.

In this way, the problems of uneven baking of the food in the various areas of the baking chamber described above are eliminated.

The dependent claims refer to preferred and advantageous embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS. The features of the invention will be better understood by any man skilled in the art from the following description and from the appended drawings, given by way of a non-limiting example, in which:

figure 1 is a schematic and axonometric view of a baking oven comprising the conveyor panel according to the invention;

figure 2 is a schematic and axonometric view of the oven in figure 1 with some parts removed for more clarity;

figure 3 is an axonometric view of the conveyor panel according to the invention;

figure 3A is an axonometric view of the conveyor panel according to another embodiment of the invention; figure 4 is an axonometric view of the conveyor panel according to yet another embodiment of the invention;

figure 4A is an axonometric view of the conveyor panel according to a further embodiment of the invention .

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION.

With reference to the appended figure 1, reference letter F globally indicates a baking oven, inside which a conveyor panel for ovens according to the present invention is installed, the latter being globally indicated with reference numeral 1.

Oven F is to be understood preferably of the type suitable for baking food.

However, applications other than the baking of food are not excluded since the invention described hereinafter, as will be understood, . allows solving technical problems of completely general type.

Generally, the baking oven F includes a plurality of walls 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, defining at least one baking chamber 7.

More in particular, oven F includes, for example, an upper wall 2, a bottom wall 3, a first side wall 4, a second side wall 5 and a bottom wall 6.

An opening 8 is further provided, preferably opposite to the bottom wall 6, for the insertion and the removal of food.

The conformation of oven F described above is not to be considered limiting for the purposes of the present invention.

Oven F could have any other shape, i.e. it could comprise a different number of walls, arranged other than as described.

The conveyor panel 1 comprises a flat portion 11.

The flat portion 11 comprises a first side 110 and a second side 120, opposite to each other. The flat portion 11 comprises an upper edge 11a and a lower edge lib, opposite to each other.

The flat portion 11 also comprises two side edges 12, 13, in particular a first side edge 12 and a second side edge 13.

Panel 1 comprises an air circulation fan 9.

In particular, when panel 1 is installed inside oven F, fan 9 allows obtaining air circulation inside the baking chamber 7.

Fan 9 is associated to the flat portion 11 at the first side 110 thereof.

Fan 9 is arranged with the rotation axis thereof orthogonal to the flat portion 11.

Fan 9 may be, for example, connected to the flat portion 11 with mechanical connection members of any type suitable for the application, or it may also be physically separate from the flat portion 11 itself. Fan 9 is also associated to a respective drive motor, not shown in the figures for simplicity.

Fan 9 is optionally associated to a respective electrical resistance 10 suitable for heating the air made to circulate by fan 9 itself at the desired temperature .

Resistance 10 is for example circular in shape but in other embodiments of the invention it may also be of different shape.

Of course, any other suitable heat source may be used in place of the electrical resistance 10 without limitation.

Inside oven F, panel 1 is installed at the bottom wall 6; in particular, the first side 110 thereof faces towards said bottom wall 6.

However, in other embodiments of the invention, panel 1 may be installed with the first side 110 thereof facing, for example, towards the first side wall 4 or towards the second side wall 5.

The flat portion 11 of panel 1 thus defines, with the walls of oven F, and more in particular with the bottom wall 6, with the first side wall 4 and with the second side wall 5, a gap I and side slits Jl, J2 for the passage of an air flow towards the baking chamber 7. It is herein noted that with definition of the flat portion 11, provided in entirely general terms, can also be understood to mean, within the scope of the present invention, a surface not necessarily completely flat but possibly also provided with a certain bending, simple or complex, as better explained hereinafter.

The flat portion 11 comprises at least on air recirculation grid 14.

Grid 14 is provided substantially centrally, so as to be positioned exactly facing towards fan 9.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the conveyor panel 1 comprises a first raised portion 15 and a second raised portion 16.

The first raised portion 15 and the second raised portion 16 are provided on the first side 110 of the flat portion 11.

The first raised portion 15 and the second raised portion 16 are further provided at the first side edge 12 and at the second side edge 13 of the flat portion 11, respectively.

Therefore, they are positioned facing towards . each other with respect to grid 14, and thus with respect to fan 9.

According to another aspect of the invention, better explained hereinafter, the first raised portion 15 and the second raised portion 16 have a width and/or height progressively increasing from one end to the other in respective antisymmetric conformations with respect to a vertical centerline plane, in use, of the flat portion 11.

The first raised portion 15 comprises a respective first upper end 15a and a first lower end 15b, opposite to each other.

The first upper end 15a and the first lower end 15b of the first raised portion 15 are positioned substantially at the upper 11a and lower lib edge of the flat portion 11, respectively.

The second raised portion 16 comprises a respective second upper end 16a and a second lower end 16b, opposite to each other.

The second upper end 16a and the second lower end 16b of the second raised portion 16 are positioned substantially at the upper 11a and lower lib edge of the flat portion 11, respectively.

The height and/or thickness of the first raised portion 15. varies in a substantially linear manner from the first lower end 15b to the first upper end 15a.

Similarly, the height and/or thickness of the second raised portion 16 varies in a substantially linear manner from the second lower end 16b to the second upper end 16a.

As a premise to the following observations, and with particular reference to the embodiment shown in figure 3, let's assume that fan 9 of panel 1 rotates in clockwise direction when viewed from a position facing the second side 120 of the flat portion 11.

More in detail - and in consideration of such a premise on the operation of fan 9 - it is noted that the height and/or thickness of the first raised portion 15 progressively increases proceeding from the first lower end 15b to the first upper end 15a.

On the other hand, as regards the second raised portion 16, it is noted that the height and/or thickness of the same - again in the case of clockwise rotation of fan 9 when viewed from a position facing the ^' second side 120 of the flat portion 11 - progressively increases proceeding from the second upper end 16a to the second lower end 16b.

For a better understanding of the effect of such a conformation of the ^' first raised portion 15 and of the second raised portion 16, reference shall be made in particular, as mentioned, to figure 3.

In the above figure, arrows A indicate the direction of rotation of fan 9 and also the preferential directions of the air flow generated by fan 9 itself.

Let's suppose that gap I of oven F is split into two equal volumes via an imaginary vertical plane.

Then, let's consider, for example, the right-side volume of fan 9 when viewed from a position facing the second side 120, which clearly corresponds to the left- hand volume of fan 9 in figure 3, in which the same fan 9 is instead viewed from a position facing the first side 110.

The first raised portion 15 is provided inside such a volume.

As can be seen, within the scope of such a semi-volume, the speed of the air flow generated by fan 9 in the upper part of the volume is much higher than that in the lower part of the same volume: as can be understood, this phenomenon in traditional ovens is responsible for the differences in speed and direction of the air circulating inside the baking chamber 7.

The different height and/or width of the first raised portion 15 in the upper or lower area of the above volume of gap I - i.e. with greater height and/or width at the first upper end 15a - causes different load losses that the air flow proceeding towards the baking chamber 7 meets passing through the relevant slit Jl . More precisely, the air meets, in the upper area of said volume, i.e. in the area corresponding to the first upper end 15a, load losses higher than those met in the lower area of said volume, i.e. in the, area corresponding to the first lower end 15b.

By suitably sizing the first raised portion 15, as better explained hereinafter, it is possible to compensate for the differences in speed of the air flow generated by fan 9 in the different areas of the gap, so that the air flows passing through slits Jl, J2 and entering into the baking chamber 7 - indicated with El, E2 respectively in figure 1 - have uniform speed and direction.

Of course, the following observations are the same considering the other volume of gap I in which the second raised portion 16 is: in this case, however, as can be easily understood, the situation is reversed compared to that described above.

In the case, instead, where fan 9 rotates in counterclockwise direction when viewed from a position facing the second side 120, the shape of the raised portions 15, 16 of the conveyor panel 1 is exactly reversed, as shown in the embodiment in figure 3A.

In other words, the first raised portion 15 should have a height and/or width progressively increasing proceeding from the first upper end 15a to the first lower end 15b, while the second raised portion 16 should have a height and/or width progressively increasing from the second lower end 16a to the second upper end 16b.

In the embodiment of the invention according to figures 1-3A, the first raised portion 15 and the second raised portion 16 have a substantially curved profile.

More in detail, the first raised portion 15 and the second raised portion 16 are both substantially shaped as a truncated cone segment, with a reverse taper with respect to each other.

A profile with this shape ensures that no excessive turbulence is generated in the air passage through slits Jl, J2 : in fact, a turbulent air flow entering into the baking chamber 7 could create problems of uneven speed and direction in the various areas of the chamber itself.

The conveyor panel 1 comprises, at at least one of the side edges 12, 13, at least one folded portion 17, 18 orthogonal to the flat portion 11 itself.

More preferably, panel 1 comprises a first folded portion 17 at the first side edge 12, and a second folded portion 18 at the second side edge 13.

The folded portions 17, 18 contribute to maintaining the conditions of speed and direction uniformity of the air flow obtained when passing through the first raised portion 15 and the second raised portion 16, respectively.

In one of the possible constructive solutions of the invention, the flat portion 11 and the raised portions 15, 16 of the conveyor panel 1 are made in a single piece .

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, each raised portion 15, 16 - or even only one of them - is connected to the above flat portion 11. For example, parts 11, 15, 16 may be mutually connected by welding, or by any other equivalent connection technique .

As said, the invention thus conceived allows achieving important technical advantages.

Firstly, the air flow generated by fan 9 and directed towards' the baking chamber 7 through slits Jl, J2 has uniform speed and direction along the whole height of the baking chamber itself.

In this way, the problems of uneven baking of the food in the various areas of the baking chamber are eliminated .

As a consequence of this important result, it is no longer necessary to periodically open the baking chamber 7 to change the position of the food inside the chamber itself, with consequent energy saving: in fact, a constant temperature is maintained inside the baking chamber 7 which is not dropped by the repeated openings of the chamber, as it happens in known ovens.

In addition, it is not even necessary to periodically reverse the direction of rotation of fan 9, as it happens in known ovens, in order to make the air flow inside the baking chamber 7 uniform.

These results are obtained with a really simple, cost- effective and reliable constructive solution. Another embodiment of the invention is shown in figure 4.

In the description of this embodiment, the same reference numerals of the previous embodiment are used to indicate the same parts or technically equivalent parts.

This embodiment differs from that in figure 3 in that the first lower portion 15b of the first raised portion 15 - that having smaller height and/or width - is. not positioned at the lower edge lib of the substantially flat portion 11, but it is instead positioned in an inner area of the substantially flat portion 11.

For example, it is positioned in an area substantially corresponding to the centerline of the flat portion 11 itself in vertical direction (i.e. at a horizontal centerline plane, in use, of the flat portion 11) .

Similarly, the second upper portion 16a of the second raised portion 16 - that having smaller height and/or width - is not positioned at the upper edge 11a of the flat portion 11, but it is instead positioned in an inner area of the flat portion 11.

For example, it is positioned in an area substantially corresponding to the centerline of the flat portion 11 itself in vertical direction (i.e. at a horizontal centerline plane, in use, of the flat portion 11) . The direction of rotation of fan 9 is, in this case, clockwise when viewed from a position facing the second side 120 of the flat portion 11.

This solution allows - with reference to the previous solution - further reducing the load losses met by the air flow in the areas where it has a lower speed, or further increasing the effect of compensation, described with reference to the previous embodiment, of the different speeds of the air flow generated by fan 9.

The embodiment in figure 4A is constructively identical to that in figure 4 but it refers to the case where the direction of rotation of fan 9 is counter-clockwise when viewed from a position facing the second side 120 of the flat portion 11.

In this case, the same observations described with reference to the embodiment in figure 3A as regards the geometry of the first raised portion 15 and of the second raised portion 16 apply.

In general, it is noted that the geometrical shape of the first raised portion 15 and of the second raised portion 16 may be any, in relation to specific application needs.

For example, in some embodiments of the invention, the raised portions 15, 16 may have any polygonal shape; in a particular embodiment, the raised portions 15, 16 may simply consist of two triangular sheets placed vertically with respect to the flat portion 11.

Moreover, in some embodiments of the invention, the first raised portion 15 and the second raised portion 16 may have respective geometrical shapes different from each other.

Interesting results can be obtained also by suitably varying, in a selective manner, the surface features of the first raised portion 15 and/or of the second raised portion 16.

For example, in the areas where it is desired to increase the load losses to reduce the speed of the air flow, the first raised portion 15 and/or the second raised portion 16 may be, for example, coated or covered with a material having a high surface roughness.

Or, on the surface of the first raised portion 15 and/or of the second raised portion 16 there may be provided suitably sized and shaped elements in relief, distributed in a selective manner.

It has thus been seen that the invention achieves the intended objects.

The present invention has bee described according to preferred embodiments but equivalent versions may be conceived without departing from the scope protection offered by the following claims .

Claims

1. A conveyor panel (1) for ovens, comprising at least one flat portion (11) having a first side (110) and a second side (120), as well as a first side edge

(12) and a second side edge (13), and at least one air circulation fan (9), associated to said flat portion

(11) at said first side (110) , and having a rotation axis orthogonal to said flat portion (11), characterized in that it comprises, on said first side

(110), a first raised portion (15) and a second raised portion (16) provided at said first side edge (12) and at said second side edge (13), respectively, said first raised portion (15) and second raised portion (16) having height and/or width progressively increasing from one end (15a, 15b, 16a, 16b) to the other according to respective antisymmetric conformations with respect to a vertical centerline plane of said flat portion (11) .

2. The panel according to claim 1, wherein said first raised portion (15) comprises a first upper end (15a) and a first lower end (15b), and wherein said second raised portion (16) comprises a second upper end (16a) and a second lower end (16b), the height and/or width of said first raised portion (15) progressively increasing proceeding from said first lower end (15b) to said first upper end (15a), in the case in which said fan (9) rotates clockwise when viewed from a position facing said second side (120), the height and/or width of said second raised portion (16) progressively increasing proceeding from said second lower end (16b) to said second upper end (16a) in the case in which said fan (9) rotates clockwise when viewed from a position facing said second side (120) .

3. The panel according to claim 2, wherein said first upper end (15a) and said second upper end (16a) are positioned at the upper edge (11a) of said flat portion (11) and wherein said first lower end (15b) and said second upper end (16b) are positioned at the lower edge (lib) of said flat portion (11) .

4. The panel according to claim 2, wherein said first upper end (15a) is positioned at the upper edge (11a) of said flat portion (11), said second lower end (16b) is positioned at the lower edge (lib) of said flat portion (11), said first lower end (15b) and said second upper end (16a) being positioned in inner areas of said flat portion (11) .

5. The panel according to claim 1, wherein said first raised portion (15) comprises a first upper end (15a) and a first lower end (15b), and wherein said second raised portion (16) comprises a second upper end (16a) and a second lower end (16b), the height and/or width of said first raised portion (15) progressively increasing proceeding from said first upper end (15a) to said first lower end (15b), in the case in which said fan (9) rotates counter-clockwise when viewed from a position facing said second side (120), the height and/or width of said second raised portion (16) progressively increasing proceeding from said second upper end (16a) to said second lower end (16b) in the case in which said fan (9) rotates counter-clockwise when viewed from a position facing said second side (120) .

6. The panel according to claim 5, wherein said first upper end (15a) and said second upper end (16a) are positioned at the upper edge (11a) of said flat portion

(11) and wherein said first lower end (15b) and said second lower end (16b) are positioned at the lower edge

(lib) of said flat portion (11).

7. The panel according to claim 5, wherein said first lower end (15b) is positioned at the lower edge (lib) of said flat portion (11), said second upper end (16a) is positioned at the upper edge (11a) of said flat portion (11), said first upper end (15a) and said second lower end (16b) being positioned in inner areas of said flat portion (11) .

8. The conveyor panel according to . one of the preceding claims, comprising, at at least one of said side edges (12, 13), at least one folded portion (17, 18) orthogonal to said flat portion (11) .

9. The conveyor panel according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said first raised portion (15) and/or said second raised portion (16) is substantially shaped as a truncated cone segment.

10. The conveyor panel according to one of claims 1-9, wherein said first raised portion (15) and/or said second raised portion (16) is substantially shaped as a truncated pyramid sector, or has any polygonal shape, or consists of two triangular sheets placed vertically with respect to said substantially flat portion (11).

11. The conveyor panel according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said substantially flat portion (11) comprises at least one air recirculation grid (14) provided substantially centrally.

12. The conveyor panel according to one of the preceding claims, wherein said raised portion (15, 16) is made in a single piece with said substantially flat portion ( 11 ) .

13. The conveyor panel according to one of claims 1- 11, wherein said raised portion (15, 16) is connected to said substantially flat portion (11) .